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Our Board of Trustees and Management are responsible for the overseeing and governance of the organisation. Our team of social workers and social auxiliary workers engage in therapeutic councelling of child victims of sexual abuse. Our techniques used to enhance the process of counseling are play therapy.

Through play therapy the team is able to allow the child to discover and express him or herself in such a manner that allows for a trusting relationship. There is emotional safety and creative potential of the play therapy space. The following is play therapy techniques used by our organisation: Assessment play is a form of play to assist in the assessment of the child’s developmental phase and determining important factual information with children who discloses incidents of abuse. Assessment play is an ongoing process followed by the team and thus this factual information is used in a court of law when requested.

As the organisation does not work with the child in isolation, the team completes a forensic assessment with the caregivers. This allows the team to assess possible challenges within the family, such as domestic violence, substance abuse, financial challenges, etc., which requires the service from external organisations. We therefore engage with organisations such as FAMSA, NICRO, SANCA, CHILDLINE, RAPE CRISIS, RAPCAN, CHILD WELFARE, SAFER SCHOOLS, and DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT on a regular basis.

In so doing a supportive and safe environment is created for the child in all spheres of his or her personal space.

Biblio Play is a form of play using reading books, encouraging the writing of journals and diaries to assist in opening up communications regarding painful events. Many children who arrive at the organisation have withdrawn him or herself from the abuse experienced. They therefore have feelings of isolation. This form of play allows the team to direct the therapy onto the child’s experiences or need in a non-threatening way. Dramatic play, i.e. using puppets, dolls, role play, enables the child to release his or her emotions while feeling less threatened and exposed. This is vital in situations where the child has not disclosed to any person that she or he has experienced abuse, but behavioural symptoms are observed by individuals within her or his environment which caused concern and suspicion of abuse.

Creative play such as drawing and painting may reach children who are emotionally frozen and blocked. This form of play is used to develop the rapport with the child in the beginning phase. It allows the child to talk about him or herself without feeling pressured. All of these techniques are encompassed in the following types of therapy we practice:

INDIVIDUAL THERAPY:
Child victims of abuse journey with a social worker on a one on one basis. These sessions allow victims to verbalize their trauma and helps them to find helpful solutions to dealing with pain. Psychological preparations for testimony in court may also be a part of this intervention.

GROUP THERAPY:
Allows for individuals to speak about their trauma, finding coping mechanisms and provide mutual support to each other. Most children who have been abused presents aggressive or disruptive behaviour, low self esteem and self worth, fears which result in nightmares, regressive behaviour such as bedwetting, thumb sucking, decline in school work, truancy, inappropriate sexual behaviour etc. Our team of community development workers, social auxiliary workers and volunteers engage in awareness and prevention work within the communities.

Workshops are rendered at schools to broaden the teachers understanding of child abuse and the process involved when disclosures from learners do occur. Workshops are rendered to caregivers of the learners to broaden their understanding of how to deal with children who may disclose experiences of sexual abuse. Workshops are rendered to caregivers of victims of sexual abuse to enhance their ability to cope with inappropriate behaviour expressed by the victim. Techniques such as puppeteering, reading of books and creative arts are used to deliver awareness talks to learners.

The Safeline team also engages in events such as Womens Day, Child Protection Month, 16 Days of Activism with Social Development and other surrounding organisations within the four districts of our service delivery.

Networking is very important to our organisation, thus stakeholder meetings are held twice within the organisations work of origin to ensure that communication remains effective between ourselves and surrounding organisations. This allows the organisation to assess any gaps within the service delivery of our organisation.

Our administrative team ensures that statistics are regularly updated, organisations are kept up to date with new documentation of Safeline. The team also ensures that sponsors are given regular feedback of the processes at Safeline.

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